DisGRACEful with Grace O’Malley

Episode: Ilana Glazer – The Truth About 'Broad City,' Female Friendships & Building a Creative Life

Date: December 4, 2025
Host: Grace O’Malley
Guest: Ilana Glazer

Episode Overview

In this deeply candid and often hilarious episode, comedian and writer Ilana Glazer joins Grace O’Malley to unpack the creation of ‘Broad City’, the reality of female friendships, navigating creative ambition, modern digital life, and making space for vulnerability in comedy. The conversation moves through personal stories, industry insights, and takes on the current socio-political climate, all with honesty and humor.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Starting Out & Nerves (01:12–02:15)

• Ilana Glazer admits to being “nervous 70% of the time” (01:31), immediately bonding with Grace over mutual anxiety. Both express gratitude for honesty and authenticity in conversation.

  • Quote: “I’m nervous pretty much all the time. 70% of the time I have a nervous tummy.” – Ilana (01:31)

• The pair joke about recording in September for a December episode, referencing how unpredictable life is: “We don’t know what could happen from then.” – Grace (02:29)

2. The State of the World & Finding Grounding (03:01–06:09)

• Both reflect on the week's unsettling events and how social and political chaos can destabilize personal wellbeing. Ilana describes “unraveling and losing my sense of self,” but finding it again by connecting with friends—sometimes with humor, sometimes with raw honesty (05:29).

• Joking as a Coping Mechanism: “Jokes aren’t really funny without stakes. So to me, grounding in reality makes the jokes funnier.” – Ilana (06:20)

3. Catholic vs. Jewish Guilt, Religion, and American Foundations (06:59–10:12)

• Spirited dialogue on Catholic vs. Jewish guilt:
  • “Catholic guilt is in your fucking mind. You’re supposed to feel guilty for your thoughts and feelings. It’s impossible.” – Ilana (07:13)
• The conversation transitions to how American founding ideals blur church and state, with Ilana explaining Erica Chidi’s insight about Calvinism fusing capitalism and piety:
  • “The more money you have, the more likely you’re to get into heaven or something.” (09:20)
• Both express disillusionment with the persistent influence of religion on politics and culture:
  • “What happened to church and state?” – Grace (07:45)

4. Performing Under Pressure & Escaping Through Creativity (11:43–13:11)

• Ilana describes the ongoing pressure inherent in the entertainment industry, calling it a sort of crucible that makes performance possible (12:19).
• Grace reveals she tries not to dwell on politics in her podcast but sometimes “dying to get it out.” (12:32)
• They agree that honest conversation with the right people is profoundly grounding.

5. Family, Upbringing & Humor Roots (13:13–16:36)

• Childhood performance dynamics: Ilana was her brother’s “marionette puppet.”

• A legacy of comedy runs in the family with her grandfather’s “KrapeTV” sketches, dubbing herself a “nepo baby in name only”:

  • “He gave us the brand. Zero dollars.” – Ilana (17:48)

• Grace shares a bittersweet story about being unknowingly placed in a special needs theater camp, underlining family obliviousness but also the tenacious child performer inside her (15:21).

6. Mental Health, Mania, & Choosing Rest (19:22–20:12)

• Both relate to family patterns of mania and depression.
• Ilana on depression: “Sometimes depression feels good because you’re like, alright, kind of the grounded reality we’re talking about.” (19:42)
• Choosing rest (versus crashing) is identified as a sign of growing up.

7. Sobriety, Online Personas & The New Podcast (20:02–22:19)

• Grace opens up about taking a break from drinking, noting the difference between sharing personal growth online versus with friends.
• Ilana’s new podcast, It’s Open With Ilana Glazer, will mix sociopolitical honesty with lighter, everyday joys (“My best friend sent me a picture of pickles he made. I want to talk about pickles.” – Ilana (21:21))

8. Social Media & Digital Culture (22:16–25:28)

• Discussion of Twitter, Blue Sky, Tumblr, porn on platforms, and generational shifts in how sexuality and humor are navigated online.
• “Tumblr was more queer, more actually hot and less violent than Twitter.” – Ilana (23:49)
• Grace confesses to Catholic guilt while exploring sexuality on Tumblr (24:21).

9. Comedy Careers & Parental Support (25:28–28:13)

• Both discuss hiding ambitions from parents at first. Ilana attended NYU intent on comedy, “allocating their money as a day job for me to pursue comedy at night.” (25:29)
• Parents were hesitant (“They didn’t know that there’s a business behind the art…” – Ilana (25:47))

10. Analog vs. Digital in Creative Careers (32:39–34:47)

• Ilana describes having more “analog” years, performing standup before smartphones:
  • “I got to do stand up for a few years without smartphones recording everything.” (33:23)
• The fragmentation and pressure of existing as a public persona in a digital hellscape vs. a more private, analog world.

11. Human Rights, Political Divides, and Everyday Values (36:12–41:15)

• Deep dive into the so-called “utopia” of progressive cities like NYC, examining the harsh realities people still face.
• Ilana deconstructs the false equivalence of baseline human rights as a “political side”:
  • “Believing that everybody… should be a global standard for basic human rights is not a side of a game you believe in. That is a baseline fucking human common sense.” (36:58)
• Lamenting the manipulation of rights as “radical,” and the absurdity of Fox News labeling simple ethics as extreme.

12. Wealth, Privilege & Encountering “Too Much Money” (46:04–51:26)

• Grace relates her discomfort during a Hamptons visit: “I saw it and it made me sick… There is too much.” (46:46)
• Ilana recalls NYU exposing her to extreme wealth, which “felt violent.”
• Both contrast new money and mafia money, drawing lines between grit and systemic privilege.

13. Hollywood Encounters & Broad City’s Origins (52:09–61:36)

• Discussing selling the first script at age 24, reflecting on “being too nice” or “overly friendly,” and the way young women are trained to please.
  • “Young women are always overly friendly because we’re trained to feel unworthy.” – Ilana (52:53)
• No regrets: “I don’t regret anything, I’ve done so much therapy… It’s all part of a process of getting here.” (53:38)
• The detailed, bootstrapped creation of Broad City: from making 35 web shorts to learning TV production by necessity.
• Amy Poehler’s pivotal role (“She really, like, mothered that whole experience.” – Ilana (55:47))

14. Processing Success & Looking Back at ‘Broad City’ (61:29–62:52)

• Ilana is not tired of talking about ‘Broad City’:
  • “I’m riding high, not sick of it at all. I love it.” (61:41)
• She’s able to talk about it with fondness having processed the experience and moved forward as a creator, performer, and new parent.

15. Transitioning to New Projects: ‘Babes’ & Autobiographical Art (63:05–66:43)

• A heartfelt look at Babes, inspired in part by losing their close mutual friend Kevin Barnett:
  • “Kevin Barnett was a genius, a beautiful genius... I can communicate my personal loss but… the loss of our comedy community… I can’t even communicate it.” (64:13)
• The importance of women’s friendships, rituals of support, and confronting the awe (and terror) of impending parenthood.

16. Female Friendships & Emotional Depth (71:38–73:14)

• Ilana: “The hoping that your friend will be your partner in life is something I relate to… The importance of friendships and how hard we rely on them.” (71:50)
• Grace praises Ilana’s work for capturing the real pain and intimacy of friendship:
  • “You do such a great job nailing female friendships.” (72:51)

17. The “Disgraceful Receipts” Segment – Laughing at Embarrassing Photos (77:46–88:38)

• Grace presents Ilana with old photos; Ilana reacts with joyful self-mockery and nostalgia, riffing on her own stylings (“It’s giving Genie from Aladdin." – 78:27) and candidly describing early-career TV appearances with no idea what a stylist was.
• Both enjoy roasting their past selves:
  • “Dressed like this, it’s almost like… your dress rehearsal. I picked up the baton and got to do the performance.” (80:54)

18. Fan Voicemails: Work Disasters (91:06–106:13)

• Listeners share cringe and harrowing workplace tales: spilled beer on a guest, discovering a dead rat at work, being punched by a student, and a wild story involving being caught in bed by an affair partner’s wife (“She pulled a knife on me…” – 105:12). Each story met with empathy, humor, and advice.
• Ilana: “A boss is not supposed to… even if you’re the most Parisian bitch you’ve ever seen…” (99:06)
• Grace: “I’ve always been like an older 21. You’re a silly goose. I just kind of walked away.” (98:12)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Resilience and Advice:
  • “Do exactly what you’re doing. You won’t always trust you, but trust me, you are correct.” – Ilana to Grace (54:01)
• On Processing Professional Success:
  • “Am I looking at it or am I in it? And I’ve made enough work now… that I can look back… with such fondness.” (62:09)
• On Human Rights & Basic Values:
  • “This isn’t even political. This is just basic human rights.” – Ilana (40:10)
• On Friendship Breakups:
  • “I was going through a long-term friendship breakup when I watched your movie…That is…to the T. Like, you do such a great job nailing female friendships.” – Grace (72:44)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Ilana admits to nerves, podcast preview: 01:31–02:15
• Reflections on world events, coping with humor: 03:39–06:09
• Catholic/Jewish guilt and church/state: 06:59–10:12
• Digital 'hellscape,' generational shifts: 32:39–34:47
• NYU, encountering extreme wealth: 46:04–51:26
• Selling ‘Broad City’ at 24, learning by doing: 52:09–61:07
• Amy Poehler’s mentorship: 55:47–60:13
• Ilana: not tired of ‘Broad City’ yet: 61:29–62:52
• Creating & acting in ‘Babes’: 63:05–66:43
• ‘Disgraceful Receipts’ photo segment: 77:42–88:38
• Listener stories on work disasters: 91:20–106:13

Tone & Takeaways

This episode is both sharply funny and incisively real, moving fluidly from absurd anecdotes to profound, vulnerable admissions. Ilana and Grace model the essence of modern comedic friendship: honesty, mutual support, readiness to joke about anything, and holding grief, joy, and critique in the same breath. Fans of Broad City, female friendship stories, and unfiltered talk on creative life will find this conversation especially rewarding.

Recommended for: Listeners seeking the real story behind 'Broad City,' insights on creative survival, open-hearted discussion about friendship, and smart, hilarious banter about modern life.